A group of meteorologists from the Oman Meteorological Service visited the operational base of the Air Force Mountain Meteorological Centre and the CNR laboratories hosted [there]. The delegation, led by Tiziana Paccagnella, head of the meteorological modelling area of ARPA-SIMC Emilia Romagna, was welcomed at the summit by the Director of CAMM, Lieutenant Colonel Di Diodato, who guided them through the CO2 and methane measurement laboratories and the Centre's meteorological station. The visit is part of a specialist training course on topics concerning “Limited Area Numerical Weather Prediction Modelling”which the Omani meteorological group is attending at ARPA-SIMC. The course, organised by ARPA-SIMC itself, is preparatory to the use of the COSMO model by the Oman Meteorological Service for the production of numerical forecasts (Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling), developed within the European consortium of the same name, which Italy joins through an international agreement signed by the Italian Air Force Meteorological Service. According to the visitors, the visit was extremely interesting and appreciated because, as Dr Paccagnella emphasised: “the Monte Cimone observatory/laboratory represents a centre of excellence within the global atmospheric observation network both for its truly unique physical location and for the advanced technology of its instrumentation and the exceptional scientific expertise developed over years of activity.” The Monte Cimone Observatory is the first and only station in Italy recognised as a “Global”, along with only 27 other stations worldwide, within the GAW programme (Global Atmosphere Watch) of the World Meteorological Organization, based on the diversification of the measurements carried out and the quality of the data produced. The Mountain Air Force Centre, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Attilio Di Diodato, has been operating since 1937 in the field of classical meteorology to support air navigation and statistical-climatological and forecasting aspects, the study of climate and the environment, and telecommunications. The CAMM, under the command of the National Centre for Meteorology and Climatology of the Italian Air Force in Pratica de Mare, is—also thanks to its location in the centre of Italy, with a 360° unobstructed horizon and far from anthropogenic pollution sources—one of the few stations in the world that continuously measures greenhouse gases, particularly Carbon Dioxide, whose historical series starting in 1979 is among the oldest internationally. Other measurements concern methane, sunshine duration, solar radiation, atmospheric turbidity, UVA and UVB ultraviolet radiation, the collection of acid rain for subsequent sampling and, since 1975, ozone at the Sestola logistical base at an altitude of 1,020 metres.
